20 Chapter 20 - Disturbed Peace
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"Whosoever is delighted in solitude is either a wild beast or a god." ~Aristotle
"You've caught me," Kikyo admits a giggle escaping her lips, "Yes, I wanted to continue our previous conversation. But before that, I have a question for you."
"What is it?" I respond, my curiosity piqued despite already having some assumptions about where this conversation might lead.
"Would you consider expelling Horikita for me?" she asks, her voice steady and unwavering. Even though I was still gazing out at the ocean, I could sense that Kikyo didn't flinch at her own words.
"I wouldn't," I replied simply, my tone as calm and composed as ever.
"I thought you'd say that," Kikyo says, her voice turning cold. The atmosphere around us quickly shifts. "I believe you understand the importance of keeping our conversation a secret. After all, we need each other. So, can I ask you another question?"
"Feel free," I respond.
"I say this a lot, but you really are strange, aren't you? Even now, you're calm. Not that it's a bad thing, I can't stand boring people," she says, taking a deep breath, "Why wouldn't you kick Horikita out for me? Do you like that bitch more than me? Do you think she's better than me? More useful?"
"You should lower your voice. We left the camp, but someone could have followed us here. You know how curious some people can be," I caution her. At my words, Kikyo instantly springs up and scans the surroundings before sighing and settling back down. "If you were to ask me to choose between you and Horikita, I would choose you. Horikita can be difficult to work with. I don't particularly care if she's better than you in any aspect, be it academics, sports, or even life in general. Those things hold no significance to me. I alone am sufficient to compensate for any shortcomings someone might have in any area of their life. So yes, you could say I value you significantly higher than Horikita."
Kikyo turns her head in the sand to face me, "But I'm guessing you wouldn't stand for it if I tried to get her expelled, even without your help?"
"Of course not, especially if you plan to align yourself with Ryuen from Class C," I respond.
"H-how did you know?" she stammers, taken aback.
"Who else could you align yourself with? You know that apart from me, there's no one skilled enough in Class D to help you. Ichinose and Class B definitely wouldn't assist you in expelling a classmate without a valid reason, and you'd risk tarnishing your image if you approached them. That leaves Classes A and C. Now, Class A is interesting. The only people capable of helping you there are Katsuragi and Sakayanagi, but you wouldn't approach them as they're dealing with their own issues due to the internal strife in Class A. That conveniently leaves you with Class D's main competitor at the moment, Class C, a class full of thugs and an opportunist in Ryuen. Given his characteristics, you could worry less about your image around him. He would be the perfect person to turn to if you wanted to betray Class D."
"But how could you know about my plan?" she asks, pausing, probably embarrassed that she had been figured out.
Of course, I knew of her plan the moment I contacted her as L. I understood that her only option to interfere with the class and, more specifically, to expel Horikita safely would be to find someone else to do it on her behalf. But I shouldn't say that. "I noticed your interest in Horikita early on, and it was clear that this interest wasn't without hostility towards her. But one day, all of a sudden, you suddenly stopped showing interest and hostility. That's not natural."
"It's because I'm being blackmailed," Kikyo confesses, sitting up straight next to me after a few moments of silence.
"You're being blackmailed? Intriguing. How? Why?" I inquire, maintaining my usual composed demeanor. I had been anticipating Kikyo to reveal that she was being blackmailed. I had prepared countermeasures for when she did, as it would put me in a slightly disadvantageous position, but even such situations can prove to be rewarding.
"It's complicated. Someone saw my darker side, recorded it, and is using it to threaten me, they claimed to be L. Absurd right?" she explains.
"L, the famous detective? What do they want?"
Kikyo seems to ponder over the situation, "Yes I assume so. They wanted me to share my contact list with them," she reveals and pauses, "and then they asked me not to do anything foolish."
"Interesting. And you didn't recognize the number of this caller?"
"It was hidden. I asked Chabashira if it was possible to get a new or private number, but she told me that while it was possible, you would lose your previous one. However, after talking to her for a bit, she did mention that through the school, we could pay to make a private call to a student if we knew who we wished to contact.
That makes sense. The way I acquired my second number was a bit convoluted. I wouldn't expect someone like Kikyo to be able to figure it out. I had also suspected that you could pay the school to make private calls, although that seemed inefficient to me, so I never asked about it. "I see. So, you suspect the caller to be me, correct? I presume that's one of the reasons you chose to talk to me here."
"Among a few others, yes, I would actually prefer if it was you. It would give me some peace of mind," Kikyo admits, her voice carrying a hint of anticipation.
For several minutes, Kikyo and I sit side by side in silence, simply observing the waves and the stars. Kikyo seems to find the scene calming, peaceful even. She's clearly absorbed by the sight. I don't exactly share the same sentiment, but I pretend to nonetheless.
"Aren't you going to say something? Aren't you going to respond?" Kikyo asks me, breaking the silence.
"What is there to say? If I tell you I'm not the blackmailer, would you believe me? You may want to, but you surely wouldn't believe me. I would still be a suspect in the end," I respond.
"I just thought you'd try to defend yourself," she continues, her voice sounding tired.
"I could defend myself, but it would be pointless. Even you, barely knowing me, understand Kikyo. If I were the blackmailer, I could craft a flawless argument and evidence you could never hope to see through. And if I'm not the blackmailer, the same is still true," I explain, my words measured and deliberate.
"Geez, you're confusing me," Kikyo says, flopping onto the sand again. "Fine, I really don't care if you are the one who is blackmailing me or not. I just wanted to say, if you are, I don't plan on doing anything foolish in the future anymore. And if you aren't, then I'm sure I can trust you to help me deal with them in the future in case they become a problem."
It was peculiar. I had anticipated more resistance from Kikyo, perhaps even an attempt to challenge or confront me, this could be a front, but it seems like she has deemed all of that unnecessary. I'll still need to pay attention to her. Although everything I said was true, if she had put me on the defensive within two weeks, she would be ten times more clueless than when she led me here to this beach. "Of course, you can," I responded.
My intuition tells me that Kikyo can be trusted for the most part. It would be futile to oppose me, I had control over her especially with the possibility of me being her blackmailer looming over her.
"Will you be heading back to camp now?" Kikyo asks me.
"No, I have someone I need to speak with. They're probably waiting for me right now. And you?" I ask Kikyo.
"No, I think I'll stay here a bit longer. Just wake me up when you get back. That way, your disappearance also won't be suspicious, right?" she says, a smile playing on her lips.
"I suppose," I respond, rising from my crouched position. "Well then, see you soon." With that, I walk along the shore, making my way to the area where we first arrived on the island. While on the cruise ship, Yamamura and I agreed we would meet wherever the cruise ship docked, specifically on the first night if possible.
After some time, I finally arrived there. The cruise ship was in sight, and so I began to look for Yamamura. Could it be that she was unable to break away from Class A? But as that thought crossed my mind, I spotted the girl with black hair signaling me from the forest, so I promptly made my way to her.
Once we are face to face, I say to her, "I hope I didn't keep you waiting."
"Don't worry, I just got here. Most of Class A just fell asleep," Yamamura responds softly.
"Was it difficult to slip away from Class A? They won't notice your absence?" I ask.
"It's unlikely. We made camp in a cave. Since everyone is asleep now and it's night, it's dark inside. It was even difficult for me to find my way out of the cave. So unless someone wakes up, turns on the lights, and specifically searches for me, no one should notice I'm gone," Yamamura explains, sitting down with her back against a tree and looking at me. I mirror her actions and crouch down against the tree in front of her, facing her.
"That makes sense. How has everything been?" I ask her casually.
She smiles faintly at my question, "Boring. I'm not a fan of the outdoors… but at the same time, it's been fun spying on Katsuragi and his faction. Although it's still quite lonely there, and there isn't much for me to do."
"It won't be long now, only six more days, and it will all be over," I say.
Yamamura nods slowly, then speaks up, "How about you? How have things been for Class D?"
"Everything's been normal. Some arguments here and there. Honestly, I've enjoyed the test. I do miss my candy and the cake from the Pallet Cafe and the cruise ship," I respond.
"Then, after this exam, maybe we can go for some cake," Yamamura suggests, looking at me.
"That does sound quite enticing. Yes, it would be the perfect way to celebrate Class D's victory and your performance," I respond.
A slow smile spreads across Yamamura's face, "I guess I should tell you the information on Class A now. Katsuragi made a deal with Ryuen of Class C."
"I expected as much. For him to take over Sakayanagi, more than a victory over the three other classes is required. Victory is what's expected from Class A, so he would need to dominate. And Ryuen is the type to take advantage of that fact," I say in response, my tone thoughtful.
Yamamura nods her head and continues, "From what I understand, the deal consists of Class A giving Ryuen 800k points a month, and in return, Ryuen will give all his equipment, which he buys, to Class A. Apparently, Ryuen plans on spending all his points early on in the test and having Class C depart from the cruise ship. He also will give his information to Class C, like information on other class leaders."
"Do you have any idea how Ryuen plans to gather this information?" I ask.
Yamamura slowly shakes her head, "I'm sorry… I only know that Katsuragi said he wants some sort of evidence," she responds her voice soft and quiet, characteristic of her nature1.
"I see. So Ryuen aims to collect 150 class points solely by correctly guessing the leader of the other classes. It's not a bad idea if he has the skill to actually obtain the names of the other three class leaders, especially if he's also making away with 800k private points," I muse, my tone thoughtful. "That's plenty enough, thank you."
"And as for the leader of Class A, well, that is Yahiko Totsuka."
"Ah yes, I've seen him. He's a member of Katsuragi's faction. That settles everything," I respond. I don't need to know much more. There's a possibility that Totsuka is a fake leader for the Sakayangi members to rat out in hopes of bringing Katsuragi down. Still, I don't see Katsuragi as such an elite schemer. And even if he was, I just have to run Totsuka's name by Ayanokoji to see if everything lines up.
"This was fun…" Yamamura says, hugging her legs and hiding her expression, "But I should probably be safe and head back to the cave now." She sighs, "I'll see you when the exam ends?"
"Yes, of course. We've made plans for cake, right? I definitely wouldn't forget something like that," I respond, receiving a rare but brief smile and nod from Yamamura.
Promptly, I return to where I had left Kikyo, who seems to have fallen asleep on the sand. To wake her up, I give her waist a light kick.
"Ouch!" Kikyo wakes up with a light yelp, "Eru, shouldn't you be more gentle when waking a lady?" she continues, her voice slightly groggy and her expression a mix of cute and annoyed.
"We should head back to camp now," I respond, disregarding her complaint.
Kikyo simply nods her head and brushes the sand off her clothes, "Let's go then."
After a brief walk, Kikyo and I return to our camp. As she enters her tent, she waves at me. I reciprocate the gesture and proceed to the male sleeping area. However, instead of settling into the sleeping bag set for me, I choose to crouch by a nearby tree. I spent the entire night there, relaxed, keeping a watchful eye over Class D and ensuring we refreshed our claim on the land at the terminal during the night.
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I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter. This chapter isn't meant to be romantic. I know it may be taken like that, but it's more about an understanding between the two (Kushida and Eru) at this point.
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